Sleepy Seaside
by Miss Alice Mina
Summary: The Maitlands are missing. A Lydia on the verge of turning 18 is sent to live with her overly-religious aunt. Betelgeuse can't be reached. And the Netherworld is going haywire!


Miss Alice Mina | _BeetleJuice_ Fan Fiction |_Sleepy Seaside_

Sleepy Seaside

by Miss Alice Mina (little-bow-peep)

"Another cloudy day at Sleepy Seaside… At least the sky is tolerable," mumbled Lydia as she shoved the kickstand down with her boot. Some days she wished she could plummet off the cliff and join them all. But who was she kidding? None of them wanted her. Barbra and Adam vanished. Dad and Delia left. And Betelgeuse—he didn't care about her anymore. Lydia was alone. In life _and_ death. She straddled the shadows; they were her only companions now. Even Percy, her beloved cat, had abandoned her for her neighbors. Granted, Percy didn't want to leave Lydia, but she had to give him up. Uncle Duane was allergic, and Chloe wouldn't let Percy come, not even as an outdoor cat.

Sighing, Lydia chained her bike, slipped the key in her satchel, and picked up her books from the basket. She was doing well in all her classes accept Bible Study. She had better things to read. Some of the younger kids in school called her the She-devil, Demon Worshiper, and a Witch. They would tease her, saying she should burn at the stake.

To mock them all, Lydia carved pagan and Wiccan symbols on the bible the school gave her. Lydia had nothing against Aunt Chloe's choice of worship, but she hated being condemned by them all for not conforming. So what if Lydia didn't want to convert? She was raised Agnostic, practiced her own form of Wiccan, and knew more about the after-life than any of them! Lydia didn't know if there was a God, a Heaven, or a Hell, but Barbra believed. And Barbra never got angry or offended by Lydia's skepticism. Barbra accepted Lydia for who she was, or at least Barbra _did_… before she disappeared without even a goodbye. Why couldn't Chloe understand!

Lydia didn't want to spend her senior year at Chloe's church! She wanted to finish at Miss Shannon's School for Girls back at Peaceful Pines! Lydia could have stayed at Bertha or Prudence's! Lydia was sure their parents would understand.

But no. Aunt Chloe _insisted_ that Lydia move in with her and transfer to the Catholic School near Chloe's house. Away from Lydia's home. And friends. And Percy…

Lydia took her seat at the back of the class, and started doodling until the teacher yelled at her to put her things up so they could take the test. Lydia knew she'd pass. She had nothing better to do than study between therapy sessions and reading in church…

She finished the exam early and flipped the test over so she could draw on the back. Lydia began drawing tombstones with bats fluttering above them. How she missed the Netherworld… If she could go there for only a moment… If she could just take a small break away from this world… See her friend…

Lydia looked around. Everyone's noses were to their tests as their pencils scraped on the paper. The clock ticked slowly. The teacher was sending emails… Lydia sighed. "Maybe just this once," she thought before mumbling the chant under her breath:

"Though I know I should be wary,

"Still I venture someplace scary."

She looked around again. No one took notice of her.

"Ghostly hauntings I turn loose.

"Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse. _Betelgeuse!_"

Some spit landed on the graphite grass covering the sketched grave. Lydia's heart thumped. She looked frantically around, expecting something out of the ordinary. The teacher was still typing on the keyboard. Her peers were still scrawling out answers. Lydia looked back down at her paper. Maybe a ghost was lingering in the graveyard!

Nothing.

The graveyard was still, the tombs were undisturbed, and the bats were as stuck as ever.

Maybe the Netherworld never existed? Maybe it was all in her head? Beetlejuice, Barbra, even Percy. Maybe she should consult her therapist on the matter…

The sound of Lydia's heartbeat was soon replaced by the ticking of the clock.

Lydia put her head down on the desk and waited for her next class. Nothing would ever change. Life was boring…

The toll bell rang for Lydia. It was finally her time to crossover! Death was taking her! Lydia was going to be rid of this place forever! Lydia took Death's skeleton hand.

"You're not afraid?" Death asked.

"I was friends with Jacques! Of course I'm not afraid. I think it's cool!"

Death looked Lydia over with his hollow eyes. "Interesting choice of burial gown," he finally said.

As Lydia was stepping into the mare drawn carriage, she glanced down. Layers of speckled red lace shrouded her. She gasped and looked back up. Death removed his robe to reveal a ghost wearing a plum tux. Before Lydia could register what was happening, there was a tap on her shoulder. Spinning to see who it was, she fell out of the carriage and startled awake.

"School is over, Lydia," said the teacher, poking her with a ruler. "You can go home now."

"Oh." Lydia sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Okay." She stood up, slung her satchel diagonally over her body, and gathered her books to leave.

"Oh, and Lydia," the teacher said as Lydia stepped out the door. Lydia waited. "Stop falling asleep in class."

"Yeah." Lydia hurried off before the teacher could scold her more. What'd it matter if she dozed off in her classes? She was doing well—for the most part. It wasn't like anyone wanted her "wicked" input anyway. And Lydia sure didn't want to be there. Sleeping was easier. An escape. It was the closest thing to death she was getting.

After plopping her books and chain in the basket, Lydia hopped on her bike and began peddling. The sky was darker than it was that morning…

Lydia took her usual detour through the woods (if you could call it that) to the Cliffside, parked her bike against a tree, and sat down at the ledge. How easy it would be to scoot just a little farther forward… Then Lydia could really meet Death. Maybe today the school bell _was_ her toll bell? Maybe today she would do it! All it took was a little shove forward. Just a _little_ nudge.

_Ca-Clank! _

Lydia startled out of her daze and looked back. Her bike had fallen. She groaned and went over to her bike, picked it up, and put her books back in the basket. She looked at her "mutilated" bible. Everyone else might think it was sacrilegious, but Lydia thought it was an aesthetic improvement to the bland cover it originally sported. They just lacked taste and humor.

"Remind me to put the kickstand down next time." Lydia instructed the bike as she sat. "Then you won't ruin my plans…" She started peddling through the woods again, humming the chant of her accursed former friend.

"_Ow-whoa-oh-oh-oh-OH!_" Hills started bubbling from the ground like the waves on the other side of the cliff! "_Wh-What's h-appeni-ing!_" Lydia stopped peddling. "Please-don't-flip-over! Please-don't-flip-over! Please-don't-flip-_ove—ugh!_" The bike toppled! Lydia slammed her foot on the ground. "_No you don't!_"

The ground stopped shaking…

Lydia looked around. What just happened? Was it safe to ride?

There was a deep rumbling from the ground. "Oh _shit!_" It was juddering again! Lydia steadied herself in preparation for the worst.

The ground quaked.

Lydia bit her lip. This was no earthquake.

A giant sandworm burst from the earth! Chunks of grass-covered dirt, twigs, and rocks were flung everywhere. With her arm, Lydia shielded her face from flying debris. She peeked under her elbow. Giant stripes flashed past her as the invertebrate barreled by, scarcely missing her in its rampage.

Lydia gasped when she saw dingy blond hair whizz by her. "_Betelgeuse?_" He was grasping the end of its tail! "_Betelgeuse!_"

"_Lydia!_" He squawked, equally astonished. At least, she _thought_ he was. After all, he was being dragged around by a raging sandworm!

The sandworm dashed by again, nearly missing her another time.

"_Hang on, babes!_" Betelgeuse snatched her off the bike, flinging her on top of the massive worm. Lydia held on with both hands and looked up at Betelgeuse. He was partly above her, his arms on either side of her body, barely clinging to the worm.

She shouted over the noise. "_What are you doing!_ _How did you get here!_"

"The better question is 'What are _you_ doing here?'" This wasn't Peaceful Pines!

"_Betelgeuse!_" She didn't need his backtalk! She wanted to know how he and the sandworm got here with no "door," and why he was taking her for the ride!

"Two more times, babe!"

She groaned. "Betelgeuse! Betelgeuse!" There was another quake and they fell back through the ground into the orange-blue Netherworld sky.

Lydia shrieked as Betelgeuse pulled her off the sandworm with no warning and crashed into a lake. Someone yanked on her shirt and dragged her to the surface. Hacking, she clung onto Betelgeuse's blazer.

"Need CPR?"

"_No_," she wheezed, trying to catch her breath.

He helped her to land. She scrambled up the hill, grabbing fistfuls of grass, and collapsed. "Where did the sandworm go?" she asked, looking at the sky. It had vanished.

Betelgeuse shrugged, shaking out his drenched blazer. "Probably off to torment another town. They've been infesting all parts of the Netherworld. Except Sandy."

"Sandy?"

"Eh, you know, the one the hunters tried to kill."

"_You_ named it _'Sandy'_! Wait, isn't that a girl's name? I thought it was a boy?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, well, keeping one as a pet is better than being its meal. It kinda, you know, guards the place. Sandworms have gotten pretty territorial."

"Territorial? So you mean you're _Wormy's_ pet."

He waved her off. "Minor technicality! Nothing but a big dog!"

"You or the worm?"

He glared at Lydia.

She looked away. "Where are we?" It looked familiar, but Lydia couldn't recall ever being to this lake. The water was green with algae and tasted disgusting. At least it wasn't polluted or made of acid and slime like some of them.

"My place." He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.

"Did you… move?" The house looked more Delia than Betelgeuse. Maybe her stepmom inspired his lake house?

"No."

"'_No'_? Don't kid around, BJ. When did you move?"

"Look again."

She did. "Oh my—" Lydia turned around. This wasn't a lake! The whole place had been flooded! There was Jacques's house! The poor skeleton didn't even have a yard! Betelgeuse was lucky in that respect. At least he had a place to park the dragster! "How did this happen!"

"Good question." Betelgeuse said.

"_Well_?" She pressed.

"I said 'good question.' Didn't say I had an answer." He shrugged back on his damp blazer. "Come on. Time for another swim."

Lydia crossed her arms. "Hold up Betelgeuse!" he waited. "Why won't you talk to me anymore? So we had a stupid argument. _Big deal_. We have them all the time! That doesn't mean you need to shut-me-out! And what's with you and that sandworm attacking me! BJ, I _needed_ you! I needed you and you weren't there! It's been _months_! I was beginning to think you didn't exist!"

"Where was _I?_ Where was _I!_" He shouted. "_You're_ the one who sent me off! And then moved to Netherworld-knows-where! I've been trying to reach _you_ for months!"

"_You're_ the one ignoring _me_!"

He snorted. "And how long does _that_ ever last." Lydia hesitated. He was bad at figuratively giving the-cold-shoulder; that was Lydia's expertise. Now a _real_ cold-shoulder, that was no problem.

"Then what do you proposed happened! If we've both been trying to reach each other, how come we haven't been able to!"

"Maybe because you reversed the spell!"

"Do you know how many times I've been chanting that incantation!"

"An even number of times!" Say it once, and you were bound together as his "door" to the other-side. Say it twice, and the door slammed shut. Say his name three times, didn't matter if you were his door or not, as long as he was nearby, he'd be summoned. But as his door, you could communicate back and forth wherever you were, summoned or not. After their argument, Lydia did slam the door, but she opened it right back. He just refused to listen to her!

"Maybe, but a lot of those times were odd numbers! And you _still_ ignored me!"

"What's your excuse for ignoring me!"

"_I didn't ignore you!_ I got angry, but after—I got _over_ it!"

He huffed.

"The only reason I never jumped"—off the cliff or house—"was because I thought you didn't want me here." Him or her parents or the Maitlands.

"Oh come on, babes! I've been trying to get you down here for years!"

"Yeah, well… I thought you didn't want me…" Lydia blushed, "in the Netherworld."

Roughly, he whipped his chin with the back of his hand and huffed again. "_Humph! _I thought you were sick of me in the Otherworld."

"No."

"Come on." Betelgeuse waved her over. "We still need to swim to my place."

"Wait."

He rolled his eyes, exasperated, "_What?_"

"You never explained the sandworm." She said the incantation in class, but it always worked immediately. It was never delayed.

"How should I know?" He said. "I didn't make the rules! _Heh_," he snorted, "I don't even follow 'em!"

"I guess you have a point…"

"Now come on! There's a couple _dying_ to meet you!"

Lydia crawled up the lawn behind Betelgeuse. "When did I become so weak?" It used to take a lot more than a bike ride, a sandworm, and some swimming to tire her out.

"You _were_ choking. Maybe some water is still in there." He laughed. "Maybe you'll die of pneumonia!"

She shoved Betelgeuse. "That's _not_ funny. And I'm still mad at you. Now give me some dry clothes!"

He zapped her soaked school uniform into a dry black jumper and a red cobweb-patterned poncho. Lydia bunched her old Netherworld poncho in her hands. It may have only been a few months, but she missed it. It was like another skin.

"My hair is still wet."

Rolling his eyes, he zapped a hairdryer into existence that started blowing her hair. Once it was dry, it disappeared. Lydia ran her fingers through her hair, trying to detangle and smooth it.

"It looks fine. Now come on!" He gruffly took her hand and dragged her to the door.

"_Geez_, what's your problem!" Betelgeuse had never been known for his manners, but he used to at least be a little nicer to her. Did this communication block really upset him _that_ much? If anyone had a right to be mad, it was her! Maybe something went wrong that caused that incantation to glitch, but Lydia knew for a fact he was the one ignoring her originally. He had flicked her off, and turned away when she tried to reach him! From there it seemed no one could reach anyone. But then, Betelgeuse was probably lying to cover his tracks. _He_ was the jerk!

"Will you just shut up." He muttered, opening the door.

"Excuse me!

He hissed, "_Hush_," and pulled her through the door.

"Betel—" Lydia started, but she was cut off by another voice.

"Mister Beetleman! How nice of you to drop by. Have you come to check out my latest crea—" A redheaded woman turned the corner and froze.

"Delia?" Lydia couldn't believe it. It was her step-mom! Dressed in one of her classic eccentric black garments and a white apron. Covered in powder or some kind of dust. Lydia never thought she could be so happy to see her!

"Lydia?"

Like some corny movie, they ran to each other. "_Mom!_" Lydia hugged her. She didn't care if she got covered in chalk.

"Charles, come quick!" Delia yelled. "_Quick_ Charles! It's _Lydia_!"

"I'm coming!" He turned the corner and saw them both. "Lydia!"

Delia waved him over to join the hug.

"_Dad!_"

"What are you doing here, pumpkin?" Charles asked once the hug was over.

"You didn't kill yourself by accident in one of your stupid suicide threats, did you!" Delia snatched Lydia's arm, tugged her glove off, and examined her wrist.

Lydia groaned. "_No_. I haven't done that since Barbra… And I've never cut myself!" If Lydia was going to commit suicide, she wanted to feel the sensation of flying, not razors.

Yanking herself out of Delia's hold, Lydia took her glove back and put it on.

"You never know," said Delia with her nose in the air.

"Lydia, are you dead?"

"_No_, I'm _not_ dead. I've been coming here a long time. I'm sure Betel—wait, Delia, did you call him Beetleman?"

Delia looked at Lydia confused "Yes?"

Lydia turned to Betelgeuse. She was so furious with him that she didn't even notice he zapped himself into the selfish Otherworld "philanthropist." "You mean you haven't told them!"

"Told them what?"

"That you're _Betelgeuse!_ The Dead Guy! _'Ghost with the Most'!_ Tried to scare us from our own house and marry me!"

He chuckled. "_Heh_, kids and their imaginations! Can't get enough of it!" He ruffled Lydia's hair. She shoved him away.

"Wait, _you're_ the tyrant that haunted our house!" Delia yelled. "You inspired some of my _best_ work!" Lydia was baffled. Was Delia enraged or overzealous with thanks?

Smirking, Betelgeuse said, "I have that effect on some people." Lydia elbowed him. "_Hey!_"

As if bees stung him, Charles's face enflamed with red and his cheeks puffed. His mouth scrunched into a little "o" and his ruby cheeks deflated as he shook his finger and yelled, "You're the guy that almost _killed_ me! You-you-_you_—!"

"Charles!" Delia grabbed his shoulder. "Breathe. You're nerves."

"My nerves don't matter anymore, Delia! I'm _dead!_ All thanks to _that_ guy!"

"_Charles_," Delia moaned. "That happened _years_ ago. I'm not too happy about it either, but he's been a good host. I mean, just look at all the art I've done! And think of all the times he's helped us as Beetleman!"

"Good host?" Lydia thought. Betelgeuse was more like a parasite to most people. A mooch.

"Yeah, uh, no hard feelings, Chucky," Betelgeuse tapped Charles's arm. "Just part of the job description." He snorted. "You know how it is."

"Was inspiring my wife to create a statue that _killed_ her part of that 'description'! Was making Lydia an orphan part of that 'description' too!" Betelgeuse removed his hand. "You've made my life a living hell, and now you've not only taken away the life of me and Delia, but you've ruined what's left of Lydia's childhood! I wanted to see Lydia off to college! Go to her wedding!"

"Well, you've been to one of her weddings." Betelgeuse tittered. "Once you've seen one, you've seen 'em all, am I right?"

Lydia pulled on Betelgeuse's arm and sharply whispered, "Not a good time to joke, Betelgeuse!"

"Just tryin' to lighten the mood, babes," he muttered back in defense.

"You listen here, buster!" Charles snatched Betelgeuse by the shirt and yanked him over. "You stay away from my daughter!"

"Dad, that's not necessary."

"_Pumpkin_," he snapped, "this isn't you're place!"

"Yeah, but Dad—" There was a knock at the door.

"Uh, can someone get that?" Betelgeuse asked. "I'm, uh, a little _'hung-up,'_ if ya know what I mean."

"I'll get it!" Delia ran to the door and opened it. "Yes?"

"Is Betelgeuse here?"

"Um, well, he's—" Delia looked over at Charles.

"Let them in." He let go of Betelgeuse, and two policemen pushed passed Delia.

"Are you Betelgeuse?" asked the bigger of the policemen. He had dark blue skin. The other looked normal, with the exception of a shot wound through the chest of his uniform.

"Uh, you've got the wrong guy!" Betelgeuse brushed invisible dust from his shirt. "I'm Beetle_man_. Easy mistake."

"Address says a mister Betelgeuse lives here."

"That's him!" Lydia's dad pointed. "Arrest the culprit for whatever crime he's done. You know what, let _me_ arrest him! I'll do it for you!"

"Way to go, snitch." Betelgeuse grumbled before turning into himself. Lydia could hear Delia moan "_ew_" behind her. "What do ya want?"

"We have witnesses saying you drove a sandworm to the Otherworld?"

"Yeah, so? I've accidently brought a sandworm or two to the other side before, what's the big deal?"

"This wasn't accidental. We were told it was on purpose. And we know when your name's involved, it's to cause havoc."

"Hey, that Maitland girl sent one on me, and she never got in trouble!"

"That's because she set it on _you_."

Betelgeuse groaned. "I didn't cause no trouble! The sandworm was after my house!"

The policeman pointed at the door. "Isn't that a sandworm outside? Got a collar on it. It's not attacking your property."

"_That_ one didn't attack his house!" Lydia yelled. "It's his pet!"

"So you're training them now?"

"_What!_" Causing havoc and lying about it was nothing new for Betelgeuse, but even that accusation was startling.

"Betelgeuse isn't training them! He's _afraid_ of them!"

"Then how do you explain his 'pet'?"

"I made him save Wormy"—now Sandy—"from some hunters when it was just a baby. It's the only sandworm he can tolerate. And one of the only things that can tolerate him." But even the loving Sandy freaked Betelgeuse out. Lydia could tell from the massive chain. It wasn't there to prevent Sandy from running away (if memory served, Sandy would do almost anything for Betelgeuse); it was to keep Sandy a safe distance away. But Betelgeuse secretly liked him. She knew he did, even if Sandy was all grown up and more menacing-looking now.

"And how do you explain him riding the sandworm to the Otherworld?"

"First off, he wasn't 'riding' the sandworm, he was holding on to its tail; secondly, he was trying to _stop_ it. And I helped him. I called his name, and we all came here."

"You're that living girl," he said a bit surprised. "Alright then, where is the sandworm _now_?"

"Um," Lydia glanced at Betelgeuse. "We don't know."

"_Mm-hmm_… Betelgeuse, we'll be taking you with us."

Lydia couldn't believe this! "On what charges!"

"Lydia, sweetie," Charles pat her shoulder, "let the cop do his job."

"No! He has no right to take Betelgeuse! He did nothing wrong!" Of all the stupid things they could arrest him for, it was this! They'd been through similar scenarios before, and no one ever believed Betelgeuse's innocence, and if they did, they wanted him punished for some other crap he'd pulled.

"The only Otherworld witness you have is me, and I can tell you he didn't cause any havoc. In fact, he _saved_ me! That means you have no grounds to arrest him!" Lydia seized Betelgeuse's arm. "BetelgeuseBetelgeuseBetelgeuse!"

They evaporated from site.

Lydia let go of Betelgeuse's arm and walked away.

"_Sooo_, now what?"

"How about 'Thanks, babe! That was a close one!'?" He snorted. "I had half-a-mind to let the cop take you!"

"Oh come on, Lyds! How can you still be upset?"

"Oh, let me see!" Lydia picked up her bike again and put the books that fell back into the basket. "You tried to sabotage another date, flicked me off instead of talking about it, ignored my calls, and when I really needed you, you weren't there!"

"It was just a stupid date. No one got hurt."

"I'm not mad about the date, Betelgeuse! I'm pissed that you ignored me! My dad was in the hospital suffering from a heart attack, and I was _terrified_! I had never been so scared!" And Lydia had been through a lot of scary shit (even if some of it wasn't always frightening to her). "You're my _best_ friend! You should have been there for me! But instead you were too proud and bitter to give a damn!"

"I _told_ you," he tossed his hands up, "I _tried_ reaching you, but you ignored _me_! When I saw Chuck and Delia, I tried to let you know."

"But I wasn't ignoring you. I blocked you so you'd stop bothering me on my date. That was _it_." During her date, Lydia excused herself, went to the restroom, checked to see if she was alone, yelled at Betelgeuse who claimed her date was lame, and said the chant to close the door. The next day, she chanted the door open again, but Betelgeuse wanted nothing to do with her.

He grumbled.

"Oh forget it!" Lydia hopped on her bike and started peddling. "You're just an ungrateful pri—" She skidded to a halt. "What the hell! Betelgeuse, look at this!"

Hands shoved in his pockets, he walked over. "Whoa." There was a huge pit where the Sandworm had sprung from. They both looked over the edge.

"You can see right into the Netherworld!" Of all Lydia's hopping between realms, she had never encountered something like this. "How did it happen?"

He shrugged. "Beats me, toots."

"_BJ_." He knew Lydia didn't like being called that—by anyone. "Babes," was fine, but "toots" made her feel like a piece of chewed up candy.

He shrugged her comment off and spit into the hole.

Lydia shook her head. "_Nice_… Say, how come we couldn't see the Otherworld from down there?"

Shrugging again, he said "Eh, a cloud?"

"Yeah, it was pretty cloudy… Wait, what if someone sees this! Ghosts are going to be able to come and go whenever they please!"

"Most ghosts can't fly that high, babes. Besides, who's gonna see? You're dad, _Jacques_?" He snickered. "I think we're safe."

"Okay, fine, but what about people here? What if someone falls through!"

Betelgeuse huffed and thought. "Yeah, I got nothin'."

"Um, what about a board?"

"A board?"

"Yeah, you know, a big plank. With clouds painted on one side."

"Alright." Pulling up his sleeves, he zapped up a wooden board large enough to cover the hole, a couple paintbrushes, and some buckets of paint. The brushes dipped themselves in the paint and quickly went to work smothering the board in colors to match the Netherworld sky. "Anything else?" asked Betelgeuse with a snarky attitude as he placed the painted board over the hole.

"Yes. Cover it with dirt and grass so that it blends in. There's plenty of debris from what used to be the ground before you two crashed through it. You can use that. Or just materialize new stuff."

"That's something _you_ can do."

"That's not fair! I don't have powers that can do the work for me! And there is no way I can make it look natural!" If left to Lydia, she could make a big dirt pile, but it would look like someone dug up or buried something. What if someone got curious? Maybe Lydia could buy pre-grown grass, but that would look really silly amongst wild grass.

"Yeah, yeah, _fine_…" With a snap of his fingers, what looked like an excavation site suddenly looked like a normal woodland trail. "Happy?"

"I guess." Lydia readjusted herself on the bike and peddled over the board. Seemed safe.

"Whoa, where are ya going!" Betelgeuse floated after her.

"To Chloe's."

"Who the hell is that?"

"My dad's sister. I've been living with her the past few months."

"Why?"

Lydia glared at him a moment before turning her attention to the path.

"_What!_"

"My parents _died_, Betelgeuse! Where am I supposed to live? An orphanage?"

"Coulda stayed at my place."

She groaned. They couldn't reach each other. How'd he expect her to bunk at his place?

For a while, they were both quiet. Betelgeuse stopped floating and started walking when they neared the end of the trail. "So what is this place? Not Peaceful Pines."

"Sleepy Seaside," Lydia answered.

"Got a knack for living in alliterations, huh babes?"

"That's not the town's actual name. I just nicknamed it that because it's boring as hell, and the people here are a snore… when not all Hell's-Fire and God's-Wrath about my style and religious skepticism." That was an exaggeration, but nevertheless, it ticked Lydia off. She wasn't a conformist!

"Sounds worse than Pines."

"It _is_!"

"Too bad you couldn't stay at your parents' place."

"I plan on moving back there when I finish school. Don't know where I'm going to college, but I do know I'm not losing that house. Delia worked so hard on it, and it has too many memories. Besides, I promised Barbra. I can't sell it."

"Why not move back now?"

"I'm not eighteen yet, Betelgeuse. Aunt Chloe won't have it."

"What's with this aunt Chloe? She sounds like a bitch."

Lydia sighed. "She's not. She just doesn't get me. She thinks I'm messed up because of when my mom died, but I'm not. I'm just me."

"Why not ditch the broad?" He laughed. "I'll help you!"

"Thanks, but can't. She worries enough as it is."

Betelgeuse put his hands behind his head. "I don't get it. Why do you have to stay with her?"

"Because she's my guardian now. I, legally, can't be free of her until I'm an adult."

"You're an adult to me, babes."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "_Thanks_."

"What?"

"Nothing… We're almost there."

Lydia parked her bike around back and grabbed her books. "Come on. Time for Aunt Chloe to meet the family friend." Lydia walked up the stairs. "BJ, you coming?"

"Uh, I'll just stay here, babes."

Lydia scrutinized him. Betelgeuse was fidgeting!

She hopped down the stairs and grabbed his hand. "Come on! There aren't any sandworms!" She tugged, but he wouldn't budge. "_Betelgeuse_!"

"I can't go, babes!"

"Why not!"

"It's… _blessed_."

"What?" Lydia looked back at the house. "You mean, like, holy water and prayer stuff? Oh, come on! You're the Ghost with the Most! A little water won't hurt you!" He was fine earlier today when he cannonballed into the new lake.

"You don't get it, babes. I can't enter. My juice won't penetrate."

Lydia let go of his hand and crossed her arms. "_Phrasing_."

He snickered. "Even if I wanted to, Lyds, I can't. The house is anti-poltergeist."

"But I'm inviting you in?"

"I said anti-poltergeist, not anti-vampire. _Yeesh_, babes, you're getting sloppy on your Dead Lore!"

"Now what?"

He shrugged. "Wanna go back to my place?"

She moaned. "_Yes_, but I can't. Aunt Chloe is expecting me for dinner, and I have class tomorrow."

"Guess that means you're not angry anymore?" He smirked.

"Goodbye Betelgeuse. I'll talk to you tomorrow." She waved. "Betelgeuse, Betel—"

"Whoa, wait a sec, babes!"

"Yeah?"

"What if you can't reach me?"

"Don't be silly, BJ."

"Seriously, babes. Think about it. You're living in a blessed house."

"You mean _that's_ why we haven't been able to reach each other? Because the house has been blessed!"

He nodded.

"That must be why I couldn't reach you at school either!"

Betelgeuse cringed in repulse. "What schools are blessed?"

"The Catholic ones."

"You go to a Catholic school! _Nice_!"

"Don't make fun, Betelgeuse! The school isn't _that_ bad! It's just… different."

"Uh-huh."

"Tell you what," Lydia inched in closer. "I'll call you tomorrow in the woods where the sandworm attacked. If that doesn't work, I'll dig up the plank and dive."

"Ya sure that's safe?" Not that he cared about safety all that much, if at all.

"It's not _that_ far a jump. The slip off the Cliffside is farther. And that ends with jagged rocks!" On her way to school, Lydia would sneak a shovel in the woods in case the chant didn't work "Oh, and BJ, can I have my uniform and satchel back?" She had almost forgotten! That would have been embarrassing.

After he zapped her uniform and satchel back on, she sent him back home and went inside.


End file.
